If Beverly Cleary ever had to choose one of her books to retitle as “Fuck Around and Find Out,” it would be Otis Spofford. Just as in its preceding book Ellen Tebbits, Otis loves causing mischief and commotion at school. Some of Otis’ antics are very amusing—particularly when he disrupts the Mexican folk dance fiesta at school by going off-script while performing as the front half of a two-person bull costume: “When Otis saw the audience, he was carried away. Now he could stir up a little excitement. He made the bull nod and paw the ground. When everyone laughed, he made the bull wave. This was difficult to do, because he had to stand on one foot while he waved the other. The audience laughed harder. Otis began to skip and Stewy had to follow.” Otis’ glum criticism on the low quality of writing in his school reader was also quite enjoyable: “With a feeling of great dislike, he looked at the picture on the cover. Another couple of dopes, thought Otis. Boys and girls in readers were always dopes. They were always polite and they never used slang and they hardly ever did anything they shouldn’t. Except for wearing old-fashioned clothes and saying ‘Yes, Pa,’ instead of ‘Yes, Father,’ Luke and Letty were just like all the rest. Dopes!” However, as funny as Otis can be, he is a far more arrogant character in this book, resulting in him becoming less likable to any reader. For starters, Otis has not discontinued singling out Ellen Tebbits for teasing—quite the opposite, in fact: “Otis enjoyed teasing Ellen more than anybody. He did not know what it was about her that made him feel that way. Maybe it was because she was so neat and clean and well behaved. Or maybe it was because he knew he could always make her mad.” For a book featuring a boy continually harassing a girl, and even going so far as to cut her hair in class as a cruel prank, it is surprising to me that the word “bully” is not used once. This is a noticeable oversight that is very challenging to overlook, and taking the time to label Otis’ actions specifically as bullying would have been a more responsible choice to write in for younger readers. There are certainly allusions to bullying—in the book’s final chapter, Otis’ friend Stewy pointedly snubs him because of his actions against Ellen: “Stewy looked at him coldly and said, ‘Why don’t you go find somebody to pick on? Somebody littler than you.’” This book was originally published in 1953 and it definitely shows its age at times like this, not to mention some insensitive word choices within the pages of Chapter 5, which is tellingly titled “Otis, the Unfriendly Indian.” At one point, Otis’ fourth grade teacher has the class do an experiment with live baby rats, feeding one rat cafeteria food and the other soda and bread, which felt like it was written in another century. Otis is told by his fourth grade teacher a few times throughout the story that he is going to get his comeuppance, and he definitely gets what’s coming to him more than once, but it is unclear at the end of the story if Otis has really changed at all. The last chapter of this book, where Otis has to take the bus home wearing his ice skates because Ellen and Austine have stolen his shoes and boots, felt very mean-spirited overall and left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t like this book as much as I liked the Ramona or Henry Huggins books, or even Ellen Tebbits, and rate it as three-out-of-five-stars.

Otis is first introduced in the book Ellen Tebbits as the troublemaker in Ellen's background. It was fun to see things from his point of view. Beverly Cleary is a master at seeing into a child's mind - and especially so with Otis. She creates a sympathetic and believable character, even as he causes trouble for the other kids and deserves his "come-uppance." I was rooting for him to make things right in the end.

Read to Isabel. The book is SUPER dated with a very uncomfortable chapter with tons of bad Native American stereotypes that I had to explain and correct with Isabel all the way through. Besides that Otis is obnoxious and i remorseful for his awful behavior. There’s something interesting to be explored about how my humble financial situation compared to the Quimbys, Huggins, or Tibbets and also that he’s very much a latchkey kid but it’s only briefly mentioned not explored.

I appreciate how Cleary tried to humanize a "mean" boy. Otis wasn't after causing trouble. He was trying to drum up excitement. My 6yo was pretty scandalized by Otis' behavior.

Unlike some of her other books, I felt this one didn't age as well. The whole reader section on "Indians" was very telling of its time.

So I bought this book in primary school 17 years ago and I was surprised to find that I could still remember bits and pieces of the book! It was memorable, and even though it is a children’s book, I felt that it was still relatable in some ways, and it also felt like Beverly Cleary really understood the thoughts and feelings of children and understood that they were complex too.

The ending wasn't really great.

Oh that Otis. Always looking to "stir up a little excitement!

Not my favorite Beverly Cleary. Otis is a classic troublemaker and likes to entertain his class through various pranks but sometimes takes it too far. I hadn’t read this one as a kid and I thought the teasing in it was a little more mean spirited than I expected.

Written in 1953 by the famous Beverly Cleary, an entertaining book, with each chapter centered around one of Otis’ pranks on fellow classmates.

Expecting redemption at the end? Cleary is too skilled an author to fall into a typical character arc. With each prank, we the reader, taken back to our own childhood, watch like a wide eyed classmate, witnessing Otis’ venture further and further, unapologetic, and unchanged, even by the final page.

Beverly Cleary is simply brilliant. We are absolutely in love with her characters. She makes it hard to read just one chapter per sitting. My 7 year old daughter much preferred this book over its companion, Ellen Tebbits. I adored them equally.

I'm a parent of young kids, and my mom recently asked if I had looked at Beverly Cleary books for them. My response was "Not in this house. I'll never forgive her for what she did to Otis Spofford." My mind then replayed what I had just said, and wasn't sure why the reaction was so immediate and visceral. So I decided to re-read the book. I still hate it as an adult...

Otis is a son of a busy single mother. He acts out because he doesn't know how to handle growing up and having a crush on Ellen. He is also desperate for "excitement" (attention). As a kid, this was me, and I empathized with Otis.

There's the setup. Then... nothing happens... You kinda hope he gets his act together or starts acting nice to Ellen. Nope... There is little to no character development. Beverly Cleary just paints him as a "bad kid." And as a "bad kid" he gets what is coming to him when Ellen and her friend finally stand up to him. There is a drawn out scene where he is laughed at and humiliated. And then the book ends... Does he learn his lesson? Does he get revenge? What happens? Contrast this with something modern like Captain Underpants. What if that book ended with George and Harold humiliated and broken by principal Krupp as as result of their pranks?

I think my mistake was thinking Otis was the main character. An honest mistake because his name is on the cover, and the book is from his perspective. But I really think this book is a simple revenge fantasy of a bullied girl. Which is fine I guess. Seems kinda petty to get your proxy revenge by traumatizing children though.

3 stars. I recall crying laughing when I read this as a kid. Either former me was broken, or current me is, because I just didn't find it that funny anymore. Mostly I was annoyed at Otis's persistent acting up. Sometimes it's normal mischief but a few times he crossed the line. However, hats off to Beverly Cleary for some good, understanding, accurate portrayal of childhood.